📘 Just Released:
Sacred Stories vs. Soulless Screens
A Call to Reclaim Identity, Purpose, and Faith


From the earliest Salaf, to Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and al-Saʿdī —
the scholars of Islam have affirmed: the stories of the Qur’ān are not legends or diversions.
They are āyāt—signs from Allah ﷻ—full of wisdom, truth, healing, and light.
They form the believing heart and guide the soul to salvation.

🕯️ Today, that noble legacy has been eclipsed.
We now live in an age of stories engineered for distraction—
content that is hollow, aimless, and disconnected from our purpose for living.

The question is no longer if we are being shaped by narratives
but whose stories are shaping us and our children?


This book explores:
🔹 The contrast between the Qur’ān’s storytelling and modern media
🔹 How the Prophets’ lives teach faith, courage, and meaning
🔹 The method and mission of sacred storytelling—and how to revive it


💬 These are the stories that save.
That teach how to live, how to persevere, and how to return to Allah.
That connect the soul to its Creator.

🎯 It’s time to come back—to the only stories that truly matter.

📦 Order now:
🇺🇸 Amazon US
🇬🇧 Amazon UK
🇨🇦 Amazon CA

#SacredStories #QuranicNarratives #FaithNotFiction #ReclaimYourNarrative

Due to unforeseen circumstances, tonight's talk in person and online is postponed. It will likely be rescheduled for midweek; more details to follow, Allah willing.

🌙 Reflect Over This Gem from the Salaf

One of the greatest Imams of the early generations, Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī –rahimahullah – said:

❝كَانُوا يَتَزَاوَرُونَ وَهُمْ مُخْتَلِفُونَ.❞

“They used to visit each other even while they held differing views.”

🤝 Differing over matters less than Uṣūl should never create alienation (وحشة) between people of Sunnah and Salafiyyah.

📚 Source: Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān al-Fasawī, Al-Maʿrifah wa al-Tārīkh, vol. 3, p. 134.

#Salaf #Ikhtilaf #Adab #Brotherhood #Salafiyyah

[Beautiful Advice on Companionship & Solitude]

The Hanbali faqīh, Ibn ‘Abd al Qawī Al Mardāwī (d. 699 AH) said:

«وَفِي خَلْوَةِ الإِنْسَانِ بِالْعِلْمِ: أُنْسُهُ … وَيَسْلَمُ دِينُ الْمَرْءِ عِنْدَ التَّوَحُّدِ

“In a person’s solitude with knowledge lies his true solace, and his religion remains safeguarded when he embraces seclusion.

وَيَسْلَمُ مِنْ قَالٍ وَقِيلٍ، وَمِنْ أَذَى … جَلِيْسٍ، وَمِنْ وَاشٍ بَغِيْضٍ وَحُسَّدِ

He is protected from gossip and idle talk, as well as from the harm of troublesome companions, a spiteful tale-bearer, or an envious person

فَكُنْ حِلْسَ بَيْتٍ فَهُوَ سِتْرٌ لِعَوْرَةٍ … وَحِرْزُ الْفَتَى عَنْ كُلِّ غَاوٍ وَمُفْسِدِ

So remain a fixture in your home, as it conceals your faults and protects a young man from all deviant and corrupting influences.

وَخَيْرُ جَلِيْسِ الْمَرْءِ كُتْبٌ تُفِيْدُهُ … عُلُومًا وَآدَابًا، كَعَقْلٍ مُؤَيَّدِ

The best companions one can have are books that provide him with knowledge and noble manners, much like an intellect strengthened.

وَخَالِطْ إِذَا خَالَطْتَ: كُلَّ مُوَفَّقٍ … مِنَ الْعُلَمَا، أَهْلِ التُّقَى وَالتَّعَبُّدِ

And if you must interact with people, then choose to associate with each blessed one, whether they are scholars, pious individuals, or devoted worshipers.

يُفِيْدُكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ، وَيَنْهَاكَ عَنْ هَوًى … فَصَاحِبْهُ تُهْدَى مِنْ هُدَاهُ وَتُرْشَدِ

Such a companion will provide you with knowledge and restrain your whims; therefore, befriend him, and you will be guided by his advice and led in the right direction.

وَإِيَّاكَ: وَالْهَمَّازَ إِنْ قُمْتَ عَنْهُ … وَالْبَذِيَّ، فَإِنَّ الْمَرْءَ بِالْمَرْءِ يَقْتَدِي

Beware of the fault-finder when you leave his gathering, and avoid the foul-mouthed one, as a man tends to imitate his companions.

وَلاَ تَصْحَبِ الْحَمْقَى، فَذُو الْجَهْلِ إِنْ يَرُمْ … صَلاَحًا لأَمْرٍ يَا أَخَا الْحَزْمِ: يُفْسِدِ

Never associate with fools, for indeed an ignorant person, if he tries to fix a matter, O brother of prudence, will ruin it.

وَخَيْرُ مَقَامٍ قُمْتَ فِيْهِ وَخَصْلَةٍ … تَحَلَّيْتَهَا: ذِكْرُ الإِلَهِ بِمَسْجِدِ»

The highest position you can hold and the noblest trait you can possess is remembering Allah in a masjid.”

In summary: Ibn ʿAbd al-Qawī advises that being alone with knowledge brings true comfort and protects your faith. Solitude (at home and the masjid) keeps you away from gossip, tale-bearing, harm from bad companions, and envy, while concealing your faults.

He says books are the best companions, giving knowledge and refining character. When you do mix with people, choose the knowledgeable, the pious, and devoted worshippers, as they will teach you and advise you rightly.

He warns to avoid those who criticise others, speak foully, or spread tales, and to never keep company with fools, because you will imitate them, and fools often ruin what they try to fix.

Finally, he reminds us that the noblest act is remembering Allah in the masjid.

🗡 [Quiet Courage]

Muwwariq al-ʿIjlī – رحمه الله – said:

«الْمُتَمَسِّكُ بِطَاعَةِ اللَّهِ إِذَا ‌جَبُنَ ‌النَّاسُ ‌عَنْهَا كَالْكَرِّ بَعْدَ الْفَرِّ.»

“The one who holds firmly to the obedience of Allah when people become too cowardly for it is like one who charges forward after others have fled.”

📚 Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf, vol. 19, p. 522. Riyadh: Dār Kunūz Ishbīliyyā, 1st ed., 1436 AH / 2015 CE.

[O Student of Knowledge, Know Your Worth]

يا طالب العلم، اعرف قدر نفسك

Shaykh ‘Arafāt al Muhammadī —may Allah preserve him — stated:

“A student of knowledge does not plunge into major issues, nor does he delve into newly arising critical matters and incidents. He must know his worth: he does not put himself forward, nor rush ahead, nor seek worldly honor, nor dare to issue religious verdicts.

Praise be to Allah, Who has prepared for us senior scholars whose feet are firmly grounded in knowledge. We return to them and benefit from them.

Ibn al-Qayyim – may Allah have mercy upon him – said:

‘Whoever is eager for issuing fatwas, races toward them, and persists in them, his success will diminish and he will become confused in his affairs. But if he dislikes that, keeps away from it, and refers matters to others, then Allah’s aid is for such as these. You will find him, more often than not, granted success in his verdicts and answers.”

And with us is a fundamental principle in this matter, taught in a ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, warning against seeking honor and leadership. He ﷺ said:

“Two hungry wolves sent into a flock of sheep do not cause more harm to it than a man’s eagerness for wealth and honor does to his religion.” [Musnad Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhī]

This is a profound parable struck by the Prophet ﷺ to illustrate how a Muslim’s religion is corrupted by his greed for worldly honor. Consider two starving wolves released into a flock of sheep: what will they do? What will they devour? How will they ravage and destroy?

Thus, many who seek leadership are deprived of success, deprived of divine aid, and deprived of all goodness – diverted entirely toward chasing mere honor.

✨ So make your intention for Allah alone, without any partner, and seek only what is with Him.”

‏📌يا #طالب_العلم اعرف قدر نفسك

🎙️فضيلة الشيخ الدكتور :
عرفات بن حسن المحمدي حفظه الله

https://news.1rj.ru/str/Arafatbinhassan

📍قناة فوائد مشايخ المدينة
https://news.1rj.ru/str/madinasona

📖 The Story of Mūsā’ عليه السلام

👤 Shaykh Abū Muʿādh Taqwīm حفظه الله

🔗 Full Video Part 1⤵️
http://www.tawheedrochdale.com/the-story-of-prophet-musa-part-1/

🔗 Full Video Part 2⤵️
http://www.tawheedrochdale.com/the-story-of-prophet-musa-part-2/

📝 [Speech without Substance is Cheap & Speaking Out of Turn is Dangerous]

Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad said:

«لَقَدْ أَدْرَكْتُ النَّاسَ وَمَا ‌يُعْجِبُهُمُ ‌الْقَوْلُ، إِنَّمَا كَانُوا يُعْجَبُونَ بِالْفِعْلِ.»

“Indeed, I lived amongst people for whom words held no admiration; it was deeds that impressed them.”

And he also said:

«مَنْ شَاءَ قَالَ.»

“Anyone who wishes to could speak.”

📚 Al-Jāmiʿ by Ibn Wahb, p. 549; Kitāb al-Zuhd by Abū Dāwūd, p. 354.

Imām Mālik said:

‌‌«أَدْرَكْتُ هَذِهِ الْبَلْدَةَ، ‌وَإِنَّهُمْ ‌لَيَكْرَهُونَ ‌هَذَا ‌الْإِكْثَارَ الَّذِي نَحْنُ فِيهِ الْيَوْمَ، يُرِيدُ الْمَسَائِلَ»

“I witnessed this city (Madīnah), and indeed its people used to dislike the excessive questioning that we see today, referring to the over-abundance of legal inquiries.”

📚 Mā Rawāh al-Akābir ʿan Mālik ibn Anas by Muḥammad ibn Mukhallad, p. 63.

Imām Abū Isḥāq al-Shāṭibī said:

«وَالْأَدِلَّةُ عَلَى هَذَا الْمَعْنَى أَكْثَرُ مِنْ أَنْ تُحْصَى، وَكُلُّ ذَلِكَ يُحَقِّقُ أَنَّ الْعِلْمَ وَسِيلَةٌ مِنَ الْوَسَائِلِ، لَيْسَ مَقْصُودًا لِنَفْسِهِ مِنْ حَيْثُ النَّظَرُ الشَّرْعِيُّ، وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ وَسِيلَةٌ إِلَى الْعَمَلِ، وَكُلُّ مَا وَرَدَ فِي فَضْلِ الْعِلْمِ؛ فَإِنَّمَا هُوَ ثَابِتٌ لِلْعِلْمِ مِنْ جِهَةِ مَا هُوَ مُكَلَّفٌ بِالْعَمَلِ بِهِ.»

“The evidence for this meaning is too numerous to be counted, and all of it confirms that knowledge is but a means among means; it is not sought for its own sake from the perspective of the Sharīʿah. Rather, it is a means to action. Every text that mentions the virtue of knowledge establishes that virtue for knowledge only insofar as one is obligated to act upon it.”

🔹 Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā ibn Muḥammad al-Lakhmī al-Shāṭibī. Al-Muwāfaqāt fī Uṣūl al-Sharīʿah. Riyadh: Dār Ibn ʿAffān, 1417 AH / 1997 CE (1:83).

🔥 This was especially the case with issues that were very complex and potentially confusing: Al-Awzāʿī said:

«إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ عز وجل أَنْ ‌يَحْرِمَ ‌عَبْدَهُ ‌بَرَكَةَ ‌الْعِلْمِ أَلْقَى عَلَى لِسَانِهِ الْأَغَالِيطَ»

“If Allah wills to deprive a servant of the blessing of knowledge, He casts upon his tongue tangled and confusing words.”

ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus explained:

وَالْأُغْلُوطَاتُ: ‌مَا ‌لَا ‌يُحْتَاجُ ‌إِلَيْهِ ‌مِنْ: ‌كَيْفَ ‌وَكَيْفَ؟


“Al-ughlūṭāt are those matters not needed at all – the endless ‘how’ and ‘why’.”

📚 Akhlaq al-ʿUlamāʾ by al-Ājurri, p. 110.

And al-Hasan said:

«إِنَّ شِرَارَ عِبَادِ اللَّهِ قَوْمٌ يُحِبُّونَ شِرَارَ الْمَسَائِلِ ، يُعَمُّونَ بِهَا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ»

“Indeed, the worst of Allah’s servants are a people who love the most convoluted questions, thereby confusing Allah’s slaves.”

Al-Awzāʿī reportedly said:

الْغَلُوطَاتِ: ‌شِدَادُ ‌الْمَسَائِلِ وَصِعَابُهَا

“Al-ghalūṭāt are the severe and difficult questions.”

Imām Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī said:

«فَإِنَّهُ مَحْمُولٌ عَلَى أَنَّهُمْ تَوَقَّوَا الْقَوْلَ بِرَأْيِهِمْ خَوْفًا مِنَ الزَّلَلِ ، وَهَيْبَةً لِمَا فِي الِاجْتِهَادِ مِنَ الْخَطَرِ ، وَرَأَوْا أَنَّ لَهُمُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ مَنْدُوحَةً فِيمَا لَمْ يَحْدُثْ: مِنَ النَّوَازِلِ ، وَأَنَّ كَلَامَهُمْ فِيهَا إِذَا حَدَثَتْ تَدْعُوا إِلَيْهِ الْحَاجَةُ ، فَيُوَفِّقُ اللَّهُ فِي تِلْكَ الْحَالِ مَنْ قَصَدَ إِصَابَةَ الْحَقِّ»

“This (avoidance of excessive opinion) is interpreted as them refraining from speaking based upon their individual opinions out of fear of error, in awe-stricken fear of the danger inherent in ijtihād (independent reasoning). They saw themselves excused from such discourse so long as the events had not occurred. When a situation arose necessitating speech, and there was a need for it, Allah would grant success in that moment to whoever sincerely sought the truth.”

📚 Al-Faqīh wa al-Mutafaqqih by al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, vol. 2, p. 22.

🔥 [ Iblīs Rejoices in Division ]

Ḍamrah ibn Rabīʿah (d. 202 AH) said:

« يُقَالُ: ‌فَرْحَةُ ‌إِبْلِيسَ إِذَا فَرَّقَ بَيْنَ الْمُتَحَابِّينَ، كَفَرْحَتِهِ حِينَ أَخْرَجَ آدَمَ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ.»

“It is said: The joy of Iblīs when he separates those who love each other is like his joy when he expelled Ādam from Paradise.”

📚 Masāwiʾ al-Akhlāq wa Midhammūhā by al-Kharā’iṭī (Chapter: What Has Been Reported Regarding the Detestability of Spreading Namīmah), ed. Muṣṭafā al-Shalabī, Maktabat al-Sawādī, 1st ed., 1413 AH / 1993 CE, p. 114.

📝 Reflection: Beware of any word or action that fuels division between hearts, especially between kith and kin. The devil rejoices in separation as he rejoiced in mankind’s first fall.

🔥 The Poison Fruits of Tale-Bearing

Abū Idrīs ʿĀʾidh Allāh said:

«مَنْ تَتَبَّعَ الْأَحَادِيثَ يُحَدِّثُ بِهَا النَّاسَ لَمْ يَجِدْ رَائِحَةَ الْجَنَّةِ.» قَالَ خَالِدٌ: «يَعْنِي النَّمِيمَةَ.»

“Whoever busies himself seeking out stories to spread amongst people shall not even smell the scent of Paradise.” Khālid said: “He meant tale-bearing (namīmah).”

Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm said:

«قَالَ بَعْضُ الْحُكَمَاءِ: الصِّدْقُ يَزِينُ كُلَّ إِنْسَانٍ إِلَّا السَّاعِيَ، فَإِنَّهُ أَخْبَثُ مَا يَكُونُ إِذَا صَدَقَ، فَمَا ظَنُّكَ بِإِنْسَانٍ يَشِينُهُ الصِّدْقُ.»

“One of the wise men said: Truth beautifies every person except the tale-bearer, for he is at his foulest when he tells the truth. So what do you think of a man whom truth itself disgraces?”

Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr said:

«أَنَمُّ النَّاسِ وَلَدُ الزِّنَا.»

“The greatest tale-bearers are the children of adultery.”

Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Farwah said:

«مَنْ لَمْ يُبَالِ مَا قَالَ، وَلَا مَا قِيلَ فِيهِ، فَهُوَ لِشَيْطَانٍ، أَوْ لِوَلَدِ غَيَّةٍ.»

“Whoever cares not what he says nor what is said about him is either a devil or the child of a vile womb.”

📚 Masāwiʾ al-Akhlāq wa Midhammūhā by Abū Bakr al-Kharā’iṭī, ed. Muṣṭafā al-Shalabī, Maktabat al-Sawādī, 1st ed., 1413 AH / 1993 CE, p. 107, Bāb Mā Jāʾa fī al-Saʿy bi-l-Namīmah mina al-Karāhah (Chapter: What Has Been Reported Regarding the Detestability of Spreading Namīmah).

احذروا من أنكم تفرحون عدوكم الشيطان بقطيعة الأرحام
‏• عن ضمرة بن ربيعة قال :
يقال :

فرحة إبليس إذا فرق بين المتحابين..
كفرحته حين أخرج آدم من الجنة !
📕مساؤى الأخلاق للخرائطي ٢٢٧

🔗 [[You’ll End Up Like Those Whose Company You Keep, So Choose Wisely]]

The esteemed scholar Ibn Mufliḥ (d. 763 AH) said:

«قَالَ فِي الرِّعَايَةِ وَغَيْرِهَا: وَيُكْرَهُ أَنْ يُجَالِسَ دَنِيئًا، أَوْ سَخِيفًا، أَوْ فَاسِقًا، أَوْ مُرَائِيًا، ‌أَوْ ‌مُتَّهَمًا ‌فِي ‌دِينِهِ أَوْ عِرْضِهِ.»

“It is stated in al-Riʿāyah and elsewhere: It is disliked to sit in the company of a lowly person, or a foolish one, or a sinner, or someone who shows off and acts ostentatiously, or one who is of questionable religion or honour.”

📚 Al-Ādāb al-Sharʿiyyah wa al-Manāḥ al-Marʿiyyah by Muḥammad ibn Mufliḥ al-Maqdisī al-Ṣāliḥī al-Ḥanbalī, ʿĀlam al-Kutub, vol. 3, p. 373.